Labour Behind The Label

Asda has a lamentable record on paying poverty-level wages to workers in poor countries who make its clothes and is trailing behind its competitors such as M&S and Primark, a new report by ActionAid revealed today.

Addressing a company's purchasing practices is a key issue, an area where huge changes are recommended by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).  This report by CCC covers working conditions within factories supplying the top 5 global retailers: Tesco, Walmart (Asda), Lidl, Aldi, Carrefour and the lack of sufficient action to address them.

Over the past 15 years, campaigners have had considerable success persuading clothing companies to take responsibility for the rights of workers in their supply chains. Yet the very structure of buying in the garment industry, along with the demands of company buyers, often means that suppliers are unable to meet both the terms of the order and those of their customer’s code of conduct. Let’s look at some of the purchasing practices responsible.